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In a rather bold move, Orwell reaches out and wraps his arm around me, pulling me flush to his side. The minute we make contact, I breathe in, trying to steady my emotions. The overwhelming feeling of someone who does not know me comforting me over the loss of my twin breaks whatever dam holding back all the pain. Tears roll down my cheeks and for the life of me, I can’t stop. I hold on to him like a little girl does a teddy bear curling into his embrace, burying my forehead against his throat. This move right here, my mouth with all of my dangerous teeth within it, this close to his jugular, means that he trusts me.
There’s not a shadow of doubt in my mind that I have chosen well, and he should be the one from this pack that I take as my mate and not his brother. It doesn’t take me long to justify my decision. The fact that this perfect stranger came out here to check on me, and is now holding me like a long-lost lover. I know that this is the right move and the best one for me. His fingers thread through my long black tresses as he rests his head on top of mine. Slowly rocking us, trying to calm down the maelstrom of emotions that I’ve had bottled up for the last few weeks.
It doesn’t take long for my mates to come to the back door and out onto the porch with us to see what’s going on. They examine the situation before them, then come to stand beside us and rest a hand on my lower back, lending support. He keeps threading his fingers through my hair as he comforts me. Callan walks out and huffs, watching the four of us. “What the actual fuck is going on out here?” The growl in his voice makes the hair on the back of my neck stand on end.
Thankfully, the sun has set, and the shadows have embraced the balcony, and I smirk and wink at Orwell. He arches his eyebrows, looking at me for a moment, then back between the guys before I vanish from his arms. Shocked, he searches the porch, looking for me. Kaedyn touches his shoulder, and he calms down. “Where the fuck did she go?” Callan looks around the porch and I rise from the shadows behind him.
Silently, I walk closer to him and run my fingertips over his shoulders and move to stand between him and my mates and his brother. “Where I go and what I do is not your concern.” I infused my voice with the power of my wolf as I stare him down, daring him to challenge me. Without hesitation, I grab a hold of Orwell and vanish into the shadows. No one has a clue where I’ve gone, and that’s just how I like it.
Chapter25
Orwell
The next thing I know,I’m being ripped through the shadows in Bella’s embrace only to manifest later down on the beach near to the castle. My stomach feels mildly queasy as I try to re-orient myself as my toes end up in the sand. She stands there calmly with her back facing me as she stares out over the ocean before her. I hear her draw in a deep, slow breath before she turns to look at me. The ominous green glow of her eyes puts a halo around her head as if her eyes are on fire and she’s staring through me. It’s difficult to see where she’s looking with her eyes this bright at this moment.
“I hope I didn’t frighten you,” Bella says and then blinks her eyes twice. By the end of the second blink, her eyes are back to a pale emerald green, and she looks sad. Quickly she turns her head in a way for me, not wanting to make eye contact. I can tell by the change in her body language that she’s afraid that I’m going to deem her a monster because of what she’s done. Her power is something new that none of my people nor myself I’ve ever experienced first-hand and to move through the shadows like a specter is simply amazing by itself.
Hesitating for a mere moment, I finally step forward and wrap her up in my arms and hold her tightly to me. I can only hope that offering her comfort when she is at what I feel, her most vulnerable, will make her feel better. “I know that it’s difficult to expose one’s power and then wonder if you’re being looked at as anything other than a freak.” I draw in a slow, deep breath and rest my head on top of hers, holding her tightly to me. “You didn’t frighten me. I’m amazed.”
She ceases trying to pull away from me and looks up. Bella glances back at the castle for a second and then looks up at me. “Well, I’m glad that my ability doesn’t frighten you. It would make for a very awkward situation for the two of us.” A half laugh escapes her lips before she rests her head on my chest again. She’s quite trusting, but then again, I would be too if I had the power that she did.
Cracking a smile, I can’t help but laugh along with her, thinking about how awkward it would get to know each other over the next couple of days, especially if I was frightened of her. “Yeah, awkward wouldn’t be the correct term I would use for the situation,” I say with the sly grin as I reach up and run my fingers through her hair. “Tomorrow starts the trials, you know,” I whisper as I lean back so I can look down at her.
“I had a feeling that it would start almost immediately after I arrived,” she says as she pulls away from me and starts pacing at the edge of the water.
“Our trials differ from the other packs.” I move toward the edge of the water to stand near her. “We don’t try for speed or strength. We want to know more about the intelligence and cunning of our potential mate.”
Bella taps her chin several times as she ponders what I’ve told her. She looks down briefly, then back up to meet my eyes. “That’s impressive. You’re more interested in the brains of your mate than her beauty or potential strength. I commend you and your people for that.” She smiles sweetly and then takes a more relaxed stance as she comes to stand next to me, looking back out over the water as the moon rises over the horizon.
“What would the first test be?” Bella is still in deep thought, wondering exactly what we do.
“Well, that’s easy.” I smile and reach out and grab her hand. “We set up puzzles the first day. If you can solve the puzzle, you move onto the next section.”
“Puzzles?” Bella’s eyebrows shoot up, almost meeting her hairline, and then she laughs almost maniacally. “I absolutely love puzzles.” She smiles, clapping her hands, jumping up and down, excited about tomorrow to begin.
Hearing that Bella loves puzzles sets my mind at ease. Hopefully, her brains match her beauty and her brawn. From what I’ve heard from the last two kingdoms, she has been unrivaled with any of the challenges that have been placed before her. “What type of puzzle do you seem to like the most?” As soon as the words leave my lips, Bella spins to face me again and smiles.
“Honestly, I do a lot of the three-dimensional puzzles where there're multiple layers involved,” she says, stopping and standing still like a statue. She looks back at me again and then back toward the water. “Think of it this way.” She motions to the ocean before her, “Every grain of sand fits together because of how they are made. No two are exactly alike, but there’s always a side that fits to the one next to it.”
Listening to her explain the puzzles she enjoys sets my mind at ease. If she enjoys those puzzles, then our trials should be a piece of cake. “Where did you go just now?” Bella says as she rests a hand on my cheek.
Watching her study me is the most interesting thing I’ve had the chance to do today. “I… I’m sorry. I was remembering all the puzzles from trials past, that’s all,” I say and then lean forward and press a kiss to her temple just thinking about the trials that are coming tomorrow.
“If it’s mostly puzzles or things of that nature you have nothing to worry about,” Bella says with the utmost confidence.
“Well, I’m glad that you’re that confident about tomorrow. I don’t doubt your intelligence or your ability. I just get concerned where others are involved in this whole situation,” I say as I thread my fingers through her hair, keeping her eyes focused on me.
“Shall we return to the others?” Bella questions as she looks back toward the patio overlooking the ocean that we just vanished from.
“Do we have to?” I smile and slowly turn us to face the castle again, reluctantly.
“Technically, yes because we are unmated, and my mates are currently waiting for me to return.” She rubs her sternum almost as if it’s aching.
“Why are you rubbing your sternum?” The question itself, in theory should almost be self-explanatory. I know something is obviously bothering her. I’m just curious about what it is.
“I feel my mates’ worry and concern when I’m not with them.” She rubs her sternum again and then looks back up at me. “I feel them as they stress about if I’m okay.” Her words fall solemnly from her lips as she looks up at me, begging me to understand.
“Oh.” Her response was more logical than I thought it was going to be. Not having experience with the mate bond myself, I don’t understand how or why it works how it does.
